Phew! What a relief. As some of you know, Sarah had a doctor’s appointment today at 2 pm. Turns out they’ll need to run additional tests for her. It could be a viral infection – could be mono (I had no idea kids could get mono) – could be encephalitis (need another MRI). Whatever the heck this is, it is affecting her lymphatic system and part of her brain. So we are back to the doctor Friday and then again August 4th for final tests.

That just bought you 5 more days to get the JumpStart System. Trust me, if you’ve been waiting this long to catapult your business the right way, this is your chance to get off your tush about it! I will be taking you step by step to everything you need to do to make sure your business is on the right track, from incorporation, to marketing, setting up your operations and sales, to getting your presence felt on the web.

Don’t end up hating yourself for not acting now. In today’s economic climate, the future of your livelihood should be in YOUR hands, not anyone else’s. So make sure you JumpStart Your Business TODAY!

Love and Success,

Monikah

What would you do if your only child had a serious illness and your health insurance did not cover her medical expenses (a common but unspoken problem in the entrepreneurial world)? What would you do if in order for the doctor to continue to treat your child, you had to bring him a check to pay down the medical bills you’ve already incurred?

I’m going to be completely transparent and vulnerable to share with you: That’s what is happening to my 11 year old daughter, Sarah, who recently came down with a severe lymphatic infection that is causing her spleen to enlarge. She’s running a high fever, has swollen tonsils and is overall very tired and miserable.

Sarah’s has a series of diagnostic tests coming up, and in order to be able to walk in there with the money she needs, I am having a HUGE sale. I have collected over $1,800 of not only MY best work but also POWERFUL bonuses from key experts. And I am giving it to you for less than $100. I’m not kidding. Go here now now for the full story about Sarah and what I’m up to:

www.jumpstartyourbizin30.com

And for the first 25 of you who get the Jump Start Program, I’ll make sure to send you some very cool unadvertised bonuses to help your business as well (as if you weren’t getting enough tools to grow your business!).

But you’ve gotta hurry! Sarah’s next doctor’s appointment is 3:30 pm August 4th. I figure the doctor can’t cash the check until at least the next day, so I’m taking this sale down at 3pm EST on Tuesday, August 5th to get this amazing program.

Go here before you forget:
www.jumpstartyourbizin30.com

Thank you for being part of my life. Here’s to us! And Sarah…
Monikah

Randy Pausch was diagnosed with incurable pancreatic cancer in September 2006. His popular “Last Lecture” at Carnegie Mellon garnered international attention and was viewed by millions on YouTube, as well as getting him a spot on Oprah’s couch. When I first saw this YouTube clip, I wept. Not because of his imminent departure, but for the fortitude of his spirit. The power of his message that had to be said.

And on a larger scale, this is very much about your entrepreneurship: To live a life in such a way that you spend your working hours doing something you love, with people you respect, for people who believe in you… So that at the end of your life, much like Randy Pausch, you can say “You’re Welcome”.

Whatever business you are in, one of the best assets you can build is a databank of testimonials from satisfied clients and customers. But exactly how do you get those rave reviews that you can use to attract more clients? Here are my 6 top tips for collecting and using effective testimonials.

1. Deliver a great product or service

I know it’s stating the obvious, but the first step in getting testimonials is to have satisfied customers and clients. That means you need to make sure you have delivered on your promises and at least met, if not exceeded, your customers’ expectations. Don’t try to collect any testimonials until you have met this criteria!

2. Ask!

The big secret of getting testimonials is no big secret at all. You’ve simply got to ask. If you’ve been in business for any length of time at all, you probably already have satisfied customers who would be more than willing to give you an endorsement, if only you ASK them. I understand that you might be self-conscious about asking, so why not send a note or email along these lines.

‘Can I ask a quick favour? I’m in the process of updating my marketing materials and want to include examples of people I have worked with and how I’ve helped them. I would love to include you. Would you be willing to jot a couple of lines about how my (service/product) helped you? I’m planning to get this completed in the next two weeks, so if you could reply by (deadline) it would really help. Thanks in anticipation!’

There, now that wasn’t so difficult was it? Try it. You’ll be pleasantly surprised by the responses you get!

3. Use full contact details

Have you ever seen those testimonials that are signed by someone like ‘J.V, Leicester’. Do you believe them? I don’t. They scream ‘made up!’ Testimonials simply aren’t worthwhile unless accompanied by full contact details: name, company, location, age, profession. Include as much relevant info as you need to prove that the testimonial was provided by a real person.

4. Use examples of your target audience

If you’re targeting single 20 somethings, then it doesn’t make sense to include a testimonial from a 50 year old married woman. The unspoken question many of your prospects have in their head is ‘Will this work for me?’, so they want to see case studies and examples from people who started out in a similar situation. Adapt your testimonials to make them relevant to your target audience eg if you are targeting working mothers include information like, ‘Sarah Smith, mother of 3′.

5. Make your testimonials more believable with photos, voice and/or video

We’ve all seen the ‘testimonials’ on tv that are actually paid actors, so it’s not surprising that many of your prospects are jaded and skeptical. You can make your testimonials more believable by using proof in the shape of photos, actual voice recordings of the testimonials and even video testimonials if you can get them. Audio Acrobat includes a feature for easily collecting voice testimonials from your customers. They provide you with a phone number, the client calls to record their message, then you get a simple code for uploading the audio to your website.

6. Have a system for soliciting testimonials

I know you’ve already got too much on your ‘to do’ list, and the last thing I want to do is create more work for you. The key to getting anything done in marketing is to put a system in place that automates the process. For example, send a form letter or email a specific number of days after the service, treatment or goods have been received verifying that your client is happy and asking them to provide you with their comments.

Some of the best testimonials I got for my first e-book came from a standard email I sent to every customer 14 days after they ordered the product. I just set the email up on my auto-responder so I didn’t have to think about it. It generated a steady stream of testimonials with no further action required on my part.

The bottom line is that adding testimonials is one of the most effective changes you can make to your marketing materials, so make sure you start collecting and using testimonials, starting today!

© Bernadette Doyle, 2007

I don’t know about you, but I’ve been having some fun exploring social media (Web 2.0). I’ve read about it eagerly, and visited plenty of MySpace and Face Book pages. I’ve been invited again and again to link up with this person, or ‘friend’ that person … and I’ve done so generally. All the while aware that I have no master plan here – no strategy.

And then there’s Digg, del.icious, YouTube and a host of other social bookmarking sites – where do they fit in overall? Basically, I’ve felt like I had no clue what I was doing.

But now I REALLY need a social media strategy as I grow a particular 2.0 arena – training and speaking. MySpace is ground zero for comics, musicians, and all sorts of performers. And as I begin to design my live workshop on “JumpStart Your Business”… well, I need to get going on Web 2.0 — like yesterday!

I’ve dug in with gusto, and concluded that most businesses need this kind of Web support. Here are some steps I’ve put together that will help you put the right social media energy on the Web

1. Design your blog to create a viable, branded, platform-ready web presence, preferably on a blog. Blogs are the new standard for websites because they are easy to index on Google and Yahoo, and they come with their own built in community (the blogosphere.)

2. Get on the social bookmarking sites. There’s a handy list that categorizes the top 30 by traffic, monthly visitors, Google Page Rank, etc at click here . Work the communities you choose (and you certainly don’t have to choose all of them) by setting up a presence there. Many of these sites index ‘the best of’ stuff, or pass along bookmarks … so submit yours! Keep conversations going, make sure you’re stuff is at least loaded on all top 30 sites. Where it seems relevant, drop in and join the conversation. (Some of these sites are specific to certain genres, i.e. Digg is techno-heavy.)

3. Get familiar with social networking sites, and pick 3-4 that serve your market and get traffic. TAKE NOTE: while ‘adults’ have merged with the young on these sites, the big ones are still dominated by the under 25 crowd. You will find some adults on MySpace and Linked In for sure, but don’t put inordinate amounts of time on the others if the young crowd is not your audience. There’s a good list that breaks these sites down by global market and reach at Wikipedia.org Obvious biggies to hit are Facebook (college audiences); MySpace (general and high school audiences); Linked In (small business); Xanga (city folk bloggers); Ryze (business); BOOMj (+35 folks, boomers); Flikr (photo sharing); CrowdAbout (for podcasters).

4. Create pages on your chosen 3-4 social networking sites, and customize them so they match your blog presence consistently. Don’t be overtly selly and do offer valuable content for free that will lead contacts into closer relationship with you. Use graphics where possible from your blog and testimonials.

5. Set up the blog that comes with your social networking page, and add content regularly. (It can be recycled from your standard blog, or even submitted at the same time.)

6. Microblog on Twitter. Twitter is an instant microblogging site that answers the question, ‘What are you doing?’ In fact, you have 140 characters to tell us – and that information can get updated frequently … which seems like a great way to keep indexed. These are short ‘bite-sized’ updates about your life that are too insignificant to share via, say, email. But these can be read on the Twitter site, mobile phones or even in instant messenger. It’s fun!

7. Recommend some favorite sites on StumbledUpon.

8. Download Bloglines (a free blog reader) and begin reading 10 really niched blogs that speak to your audience. Get to know these folks, blog about what they are doing, comment where you can helpfully and sign off with your blog URL. Add these blogs to your ‘blogroll’ and network your heart out. The traffic will come back to find you. The same can be done with a podcast receiver, such as Juice (for windows or Mac) and keep you networking within the podcast community.

9. Keep checking in on your social bookmarking and social networking sites periodically and remember to keep your blog content fresh. See what’s happening, make sure your page is doing well, see who’s dropping by, look involved … better yet, be involved!

10. Keep up with your friend requests, invitations, messages daily – just put aside a bit of time each day to do it. And while you’re at it, work the networks, and put out requests to like-minded folks in the network who appear to speak to your audience. If this is too much work, outsource to a high school or college student who is good at this. (Hint: they ALL are.)

11. Send out updates periodically to your friend list on your MySpace and other networking pages. Here’s where you can finally pitch your products and services, sales, speeches, seminars and other events of note.

Do this .. and stay committed and regular about it … and your indexing on Google is going to soar, right along with your blog traffic. You can bet I’ll be doing these things – so join me!

When I ask business owners where they find most of their new clients, most answer “by word of mouth.” But ironically, very few have any strategy for increasing their word of mouth business. It’s a bit like a magic ring that we forget to rub.

There seems to be no limit to how many ways you can market your business. The key, however, is not to search out the “ultimate technique”, but to start to implement the most simple techniques immediately and then expand to more sophisticated ones. Some of the simplest techniques are also the best. So what is this method that will generate so much word of mouth business? What is the strategy I consider so important? What is this technique that is so simple, so easy and so inexpensive that anyone can use it from the very first day they go into business? What is this approach that is so powerful, once you see the results you’ll want to keep doing it until the day you retire?

The number one way to generate referrals is this:

Handwritten thank you notes or cards.

Stick with me here. Why do people refer business in the first place? One is the law of contribution: It makes them feel good to make a contribution. Secondly, the law of reciprocity: If people feel they owe you something, they are more likely to give you something in return. One of the things they will give is referrals. And thirdly, the law of affinity: If people feel you like them, they will often go out of their way to help you. People get so little appreciation these days that when someone appreciates them, they’re likely to talk about it.

You provide a service. The client talks about it. The level of enthusiasm, conviction and delight the client has about you increase the chances that the person hearing about your business will check out your service. Handwritten thank you cards and notes work to generate more word of mouth business because:

• It’s unexpected and it makes people feel good.

• It really shows you care and are thinking about them.

• It shows that you are organized and on top of details

• Increases your trust and affinity with people

• Demonstrates that you went out of your way to do something for them

• Gives them something tangible and physical that reminds them of you

• Can be done virtually every day, no matter what your budget or marketing expertise is

• Makes you feel good and bond to your clients.

So when do you send handwritten thank you notes and cards? Frequently, regularly and systematically. This isn’t something you do once in a while. This can become your core, central marketing activity. When should you send thank you’s and what should you say?

• When you’ve set an appointment, your note can set the tone of your meeting by letting them know you’re looking forward to getting together with them.

• When you get new business, your card will make them feel confident they’ve engaged you.

• When you complete a project, a handwritten note gives closure and increases the chances they’ll hire you again.

• When you get a referral, don’t just send a note when you get the business from the referral. Send a note right after you’ve spoken or met with the referral, even if you didn’t get the project. When you get the project, send another note.

• When someone helps you, gives you a resource, an idea, a compliment, an encouragement, they get a note as well.

• When you meet a new contact, whether through a networking event, a business associate, or any other business situation, write a note on the back of their card so you don’t forget them, and send them a thank you note the following day.

Wow, that’s a lot of notes you say. Yes, but you want to make it such a habit that you do it almost instinctually. You do it as a way of doing business. After all, it’s not such a big deal, you can do a complete note, including address and stamp in about 3 minutes flat!

Consultant Andrea Nierenberg has built a non stop word of mouth business, almost entirely through hand-written thank-you notes and cards, including emailed notes. She makes it a practice to send three a day, and guess what? Nobody forgets Andrea! Not only does Andrea get a lot of business, she KEEPS a lot of business. Can you imagine another vendor getting the business? It doesn’t happen because Andrea has the client in “golden handcuffs”. They LOVE her!

So how do you implement this strategy? Here’s your thank you note action plan:

1. Get some thank you notes. www.cardstore.com enables you to customize your cards. Your local office supply store also will have these at a reasonable price.

2. Buy several dozen nice postcards as well. Later on you can get personalized cards designed, but don’t wait for that.

3. Bring these with you, especially when you travel. Bring stamps as well.

4. Write the note immediately or as soon as you can, while you travel, while you wait for an appointment, while you ride the train, etc.

5. Make each note personal and sincere. It doesn’t need to be long. Two to four lines is fine.

That’s it. That’s how it works. Three notes a day will cost you about $1.23 a day, or about $25 a month. That you can afford. The time, maybe half an hour a day. Perhaps less. That you can fit in.

Now it’s time to take action.